Conversations with Ingrid Campbell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ingrid Campbell.

Hi Ingrid, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Contrary to popular belief, small suburban towns do exist outside New York City. I’m a first-generation northerner raised in Westchester County, New York. However, my lineage is Alabama and Louisiana – the deep south. This heritage was pivotal to my childhood development, strong work ethics, community involvement, and ‘it takes a village’ like philosophy.

The untimely death of my father, as I neared my 10th birthday, was my earliest influential experience. Though his void was consuming, the lessons he taught (astronomy, skill trade, music, arts, literature) and the beliefs demonstrated nurtured my growth. The teaching did not falter in a single-parent household, it continued into adulthood.

We learned how a family perseveres, the existence of the extended family, and wealth beyond the decimal point. My mother explained the importance of activism starting with her place of employment to the social organizations she represented. She bestowed the knowledge that the community’s wealth will sustain you when the cupboards are bare and hope fears entering the neighborhood.

I’ve journeyed many miles to strengthen my core beliefs and understand the community is a family network. My desire is to nurture the family through activism, infuse an organic fertilizer to promote growth, create a sustainable path that endures time, and build a model for replication.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My challenges started with not being from “here”, a Southerner, Tennessee, or Nashville. It became a moot point when I shared my background. So now I’m teased about my New York accent. I would reply, “What accent”? And we laugh.

The next challenge was understanding the history of the community beyond the textbooks because social and economical disenfranchisement prevailed. I continued to educate myself by finding resources in multigenerational families who were trusting enough to share their oral history. Additional information came from being a sleuth, reading the storyline devoid of ink’s imprint.

What I have learned during my seven years in McFerrin Park. I have learned how to be resilient when others have condemned me as bedridden. I have learned the prescription for fortitude cannot be filled at a pharmacy. I have learned that tomorrow is today. I have learned one touch can equal 1000 words; however, 1000 words could equal nothing. I have learned that waiting until tomorrow could be too late.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a former automotive industry expert, President of McFerrin Park Neighborhood Association and Co-Founder of Leave The Light On Foundation, Inc., and Consultant. Having over two and a half decades of experience in the automotive industry in logistics and procurement, I became a subject matter expert. I successfully moved up the ranks from Logistics Engineer to Logistics Manager with Ryder before joining Nissan North America.

As a Logistics Team Lead at Nissan, I continued to exceed corporate expectations with a myriad of cost-savings strategies that were successfully implemented before I left the automotive industry in 2020 to spend time as a servant-leader in East Nashville.

Currently, as the President of McFerrin Park Neighborhood Association, I work with the executive board and our Councilman to coordinate programs to engage residents at the grassroots level. Weekly you can find me driving throughout the East Nashville neighborhood delivering food provided by a local restaurant and actively working with Metro Nashville government leaders to make the neighborhood streets safer for residents.

I constantly attend training sessions to improve my leadership skills along with understanding zoning and planning regulations to negotiate an inclusive position for residents of McFerrin Park. In addition to leading the neighborhood association, I help seniors and caregivers through Leave The Light On Foundation Inc., a 501c3 organization co-founded with my family in 2010.

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
It’s a surprise to me how much I enjoy watching classic B-rated movies such as The Blob and The 50ft Woman.

Contact Info:

• Email: ingridcampbellconsultant@gmail.com & mcferrinparkassociation@gmail.com

Image Credits
Ingrid Campbell Consultant and Carol Campbell